Kit Dunne Charter Skipper with Wicklow Boat Charters reports on the recent appearance of Smooth-Hounds off Wicklow and notably the first specimen onboard LISIN I for 2012. On a recent trip for Smooth-Hound they appeared in large numbers with 3 very near specimens and one specimen recorded. Des, Josie and Chris of the IFI, accompanied by a few avid Specimen hunters fished the Wicklow marks with great success on the 11th June 2012. After reports of Smoothies showing on the beaches and a couple taken on-board Lisin recently, the guys wanted to be first to hit the big one, and they were. Armed with plenty of Peller crab, fresh & frozen, they set off at 7am from Wicklow Harbour. The plan was to head South and fish the last of the Ebb tide down to slack water, then see the flood tide pick up, this would give us the best opportunity I felt.
We weren’t long fishing when a Smooth-Hound came on-board, at 5 lb he wasn’t a specimen but things were looking up. We caught Bull-Huss to 12lb, Ray of about 10lb, Tope up to 30lb and a few Gurnards and dogs of course. Among all of these prize fish came the only specimen of the day, after 3 near misses, John Millerick landed a fine Smooth-Hound clearly of specimen size, this was the big achievement of the day among 80 Hounds, 6 Tope, 5 Huss, 1 Ray, 2 Grunard and lots of Dogs.
Kit Dunne
Wicklow Boat Charters,
Telephone: +353 (0)87 6832179 +353 (0)404 67031
Email: [email protected] Website: www.wicklowboatchaters.ie
